THE STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN USING ENGLISH INTONATION …

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Jurnal EK&BI, Volume 2, Nomor 1 Juni 2019 ISSN: 2620-7443

155

THE STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN USING ENGLISH INTONATION AT

BUSINESS INDONESIA MURNI SADAR POLYTECHNIC

1) Doris Yolanda Saragih, 2) Hengki Mangiring Parulian Simarmata

1Komputer Akuntansi, Politeknik Bisnis Indonesia

email: [email protected] 2 Manajemen Administrasi Perkantoran, Politeknik Bisnis Indonesia

email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This thesis is about the students’ difficulties in using English intonation. To research this subject the

writer formulates the problem as follow: What are the students’ difficulties in using English

intonation? It focuses on the students’ intonation in reading a dialogue, which consists of positive

statement, negative statement, w-h question, and yes-no question.To answer the problem above, this

thesis follows some theories, namely: Allen (1954), Haycraft (1971), Jones (1979), and Roach

(2000). The research design is qualitative research. The subjects of this study are the students of

Business Indonesia Murni Sadar Polytechnic, and the object is the student’s intonation. The

technique of collecting data follows audio method or what is called recorded voice data. The data is

analyzed by drawing the terminal contour of students’ intonation.This research discovers that there

are four difficulties of students in using English intonation, namely: (1). difficulty in using correct

juncture, (2). difficulty in using rising intonation for the first clause and falling intonation for the

second clause in a compound sentence, (3). difficulty in using falling intonation for w-h question and

rising intonation for yes-no question, and (4). difficulty in determining pitch and stress of a syllable.

This research finding recommends both teacher and students to take responsibility in overcoming

those difficulties. An English teacher should teach his beginner students the using of intonation and

its function in every kinds of sentence. Since there is an imitation process in learning intonation, a

teacher should be able to detect a falling intonation from a rising intonation in his own voice as well

as in a student’s. The success of learning does not only depend on the teacher but also involves the

students’ awareness to learn English.

Keywords : English Intonation, English Business.

1. RESEARCH BACKGROUD

English language is an international

language which is used by many people in

many parts of world especially the in business

world. In doing business, each people have

their interaction between a person and

company. In doing interaction, people must be

able to speak well. In speaking, the interaction

between person orcompany, they must be goof

speaking, and one of the aspect is

pronunciation. Pronunciation means the way

of how we say a word or a sentence to express

our idea or feeling. Many people learning

English, they often do not pay any attention to

their pronunciation. In practicing English in

business also has many cases of

misunderstanding in communication were

caused by the mispronouncing of words.

Different pronunciation will have different

meaning. The way pronounce words will be

different, and it influence of cases, such as:

locality, social surroundings, etc. the

existences of all these differences make it

difficult for the foreign learner to know which

types of English pronunciation acquired. Parts

of pronunciation are consonants, vowel,

stress, and intonation.

When listening to people speaking, we

get clear messages about their attitude from

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the ways things are said. On the other hand,

intonation is changing pitch of voice. When

the pitch of voice rises we have a rising

intonation; when it falls we have falling

intonation; when it remains on one note for an

appreciable time, we have level intonation

(Jones, 1979: 275).

Common difficulties with intonation

according to Haycraft (1975:71) are: 1). wide

voice range, this is a problem with students of

any nationality. It is rarely caused by a

physical impediment; it is normally shyness

and suspiciousness and can be quickly

overcome. 2). the falling tone of the last

stressed syllable, this is another problem

connected with a narrow voice range and is

corrected by increasing the range. 3). final

rising tone. 4). sentences of two or more

stresses. 5). the level tone. 6). pitch needed for

the first stressed syllable.

1.1 Research Problem

Based on the background above, the

researcher formulates the problem as follow:

What are the students’ difficulties in using

English intonation?

1.2 Research Purpose

Based on the problem above, the purpose

of this research is: To find out the students’

difficulties in using English intonation.

1.3 Research Assumption

The researcher assumes that the students

of Business Indonesia Murni Sadar

Polytechnic faced difficulties in using English

intonation in reading positive statement,

negative statement, w-h question, and yes-no

question.

1.4 Research Scope

The researcher focuses on the students’

intonation in reading a dialogue, which

consists of positive statement, negative

statement, w-h question, and yes-no question,

based on Jones’ theory.

1.5 Significance of Research.

The significance of the study is expected

to be valuable to the English Lecturer in

solving the students’ difficulties in using

English intonation to improve the quality of

English teaching and learning. It is also

significant to the students to make them

understand when and how rising and falling

intonation are used.

1.6 TheoreticalFramework This research uses some theories which

support the data analysis and research finding,

they are: Allen (1954), Haycraft (1971), Jones

(1979), and Roach (2000).

1.7 Key Terms.

This research uses some terms, they are:

a) Intonation is the changing pitch of the

voice.

b) Rising tone is used when the pitch of

voice rises.

c) Falling tone is used when the pitch of

voice falls.

d) Level tone is used when it remains on

one note for an appreciable time.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Historical Background.

Intonation is one of the language aspects.

It is important to develop of the student’s skill

in English. Intonation is the changing pitch of

the voice that has rising, falling, and level

types. By intonation we can understand about

the attitude of the speaker or how he feels

about what he is saying.

In studying intonation we study how the

pitch rises and falls, be able to detect high

pitch from a low pitch. Some people difficult

to relate what they hear in someone’s voice to

scale ranging from low to high. Most of the

students also do not understand how to apply

intonation. It is because they are not thought

well about intonation. It makes them difficult

in using English intonation.

Intonation

Definition of Intonation

Intonation is the tune of a sentence,

comparable with the rise and fall of the tune in

a piece of music. Intonation is the, movement

of the voice, between high and low pitch.

English has two basic tunes, they are: 1)

ultimately falling, and ultimately rising

(Haycraft, 1971:1-2).

Similarly, Roach (2000: 150) defines

“intonation as the pitch of the voice”. Only in

very unusual situations do we speak with

fixed, unvarying pitch and we speak normally

the pitch of our voice is constantly changing.

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One of the most important tasks in analyzing

intonation is to listen to the speaker’s pitch

and recognize what it is doing.

English intonation has five types of

tones; they are falling, rising, falling-rising,

rising-falling, and level. In analyzing

intonation, tone unit is needed. Every tone unit

has tonic syllable (TS). Tonic syllable is a

syllable which carries a tone. And if the tonic

syllable carries not only a tone but also a type

of stress, then it will be called as tonic stress.

Tone unit has three components; they are

head (H), pre-head (PH), and tail (T). The

head is all of that part of a tone unit that

extends from the first stressed syllable up to

(but not including) the tonic syllable. It

follows that if there is no stressed syllable

before the tonic syllable, there cannot be a

head. The pre-head is composed of all the

unstressed syllables in a tone-unit preceding

the first stressed syllable. Any syllables

between the tonic syllable and the end of the

tone-unit are called the tail.

To illustrate this more fully, a passage is

provided below:

|| and then ‘nearer to the front|| on the left|

there is a ‘bit of forest | ‘coming ‘down to the

waterside || and then a ‘bit of a bay||

Allen (1954: 39) defines intonation as

“the melody of speech, the changing pitch of

the voice”. It is to certain extent controlled by

stress, for important changes of pitch occur

only on stressed syllables. The English

intonation can be classified under two types.

Both normally begin with the first stressed

syllable fairly high, and fall step – wise fro

stress until the last significant (meaningful)

stress is reached. Type 1 fall, remaining low

for any further unstressed syllables; type 2rise

from a low tone, continuing the rise for any

further unstressed syllable.

Jones (1979: 275) explains intonation

may be defined as “the variations which take

place in the pitch of the voice in connected

speech, i.e. the variation and pitch of the

musical note produced by the vibration of the

vocal cords”. Intonation is quite different

thing from stress. In ordinary speech the pitch

of the voice is continually changing. When the

pitch of the voice rises we have a rising

intonation; when it falls we have a falling

intonation; when it remains on one note for an

appreciable time, we have level intonation.

Based on the explanation above,

intonation generally is the changing pitch of

our voice from high to low, and rising to

falling.

Types of Intonation.

Jones (1979:275) classifies English

intonation into three categories, they are: 1).

rising intonation (/), 2). falling intonation (\),

and 3). level intonation (-). The detail

explanation of those three categories of

intonation can be seen below:

Rising Intonation

Rising intonation is normally used in:

a. Yes-No Questions

For example:

1. Are you happy?

2. Do you study English everyday?

3. Will you go to school tomorrow?

4. Have you met him?

Falling Intonation

Falling intonation is normally used in:

a. W-H Questions

For example:

1. Where do you live?

2. What do you want?

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3. Which do you like best?

4. Why do you complain?

5. How far is your destination?

b. Positive statement

For example:

1. We are going to the movies tonight.

2. She will celebrate her seventeenth

birthday next week.

3. Tom has lived in London for five

years.

4. Their plane is arriving at nine in the

morning.

c. Negative statement.

For example:

1. We are not going to the movies

tonight.

2. She will not celebrate her

seventeenth birthday

next week.

3. Tom has not lived in London for

five years.

4. Their plane is not arriving at nine

in the morning.

5. The church was not more crowded

than usual.

Level Intonation

Level intonation is a series of word

phrases or clauses in a sentence. This tone is

certainly used in English, but in a rather

restricted context: it almost always conveys

(on single- syllable utterances) a feeling of

saying something routine, uninteresting or

boring. A teacher calling the names of pupils

from a register will often do so using level

tone on each name, and the pupils are likely to

respond with “yes” ( in level intonation) when

their name is called.

Wave Intonation

Allen (1954: 90) provides that wave

intonation consists of Falling–Rising

Intonation and Rising–Falling Intonation.

a. Falling – Rising Intonation

The Falling-Rising Intonation is used

a lot in English and has some rather

special functions. It is to describe

limited agreement or responses with

reservations.

Example:

1. I don’t want to be late ( . . . so

please excuse me hurrying away

so soon)

2. She never drinks tea ( . . . so it’s

useless to offer her any)

3. Well, I don’t agree ( . . . though I

do understand your point of view)

4. I don’t believe it’s true ( . . . in

spite of all the rumors)

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5. I only had three ( . . . and you

knew that wasn’t enough)

b. Rising – Falling Intonation

This is used to convey rather strong

feelings of approval, disapproval or

surprise. It is not usually considered

to be an important tone for foreign

learners to acquire, although it is still

useful practice to learn to distinguish

it from other tones.

Example:

1. We walked home because we

missed the train.

2. Afterwards, we went home.

3. If I put it up there, it will fall off.

Combined Intonation

Allen (1954: 59) also formulates

combined intonation which usually occurs on

the two or more clauses. The uses of combined

intonation are as follows:

a. Sentences beginning with subordinate

clause have rising intonation and

followed by falling intonation for the

main clause.

Example:

1. When he came, I asked him to

wait.

2. After the game, we had some tea.

3. Just as the train was starting, he

jumped in.

4. Since you refuse to help, I must

do it alone.

5. If you like, I’ll send the car for

you.

b. Sentences beginning with main clause

have falling intonation and followed

by rising intonation for the

subordinate clause. It is particularly

common with conditions spoken in a

hesitant manner.

Example:

1. I eat steak, when I can get it.

2. I’d buy a new one, if I could

afford it.

3. There’ll be nothing left, after

you’ve had yours.

Combined intonation is also used in

alternative questions, enumeration things and

compound sentences.

Example of alternative question:

1. Shall we drive or shall we go by

train?

2. Do you like tea or coffee or

cocoa?

Example of enumeration things:

1. There were apples and pears and

plums.

2. One, two, three, four, five.

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Intonation of Imperative

In expressing imperative, Allen (1954:

97) suggests that it has falling intonation if the

sentence expresses command, and it has rising

intonation if the sentence expresses polite or

friendly request.

Example:

Bring me a chair!

Bring me a chair.

1. Wait a moment!

Wait a moment.

2. Let’s try again!

Let’s try again.

Intonation of Parentheses

Expressions of a parenthetical nature

have no particular intonation of their own.

They share the intonation that the main

sentence would have if the parentheses were

not there. Thus a parenthesis occurring at the

end of a sequence requiring Falling Intonation

is said on low level pitch (Jones, 1979: 316).

Example:“

“I can’t help it,” he said

impatiently

“Will you marry me?” Susan

asked

Function of Intonation.

According to Roach (2000:183-184),

function of intonation can be divided into:

1. Attitudinal Function.

Intonation enables us to express emotions

and attitudes as we speak, and this adds a

special kind of meaning to spoken language.

The notion of expressing an emotion or

attitudes is itself a more complex one than is

generally realized. Our pronunciation of

different ways for example, if the sentence

was ‘I want to buy a new car’ and you were to

say it in the following ways: “pleading”,

“angry”, “sad”, “happy”, “proud”, it is certain

that at least some of your performances will be

different from some others.

2. Accentual Function

Intonation helps to produce the effect of

prominence on syllables that need to be

perceived as stressed, and in particular the

placing of tonic stress on a particular syllable

marks out the word to which it belongs as the

most important in the tone- unit.

Example:

a. I have `plans to ˛leave ( I am

planning to leave)

b. I have ˛plans to -leave (I have some

plans/drawings/diagrams that I

have to leave)

3. Grammatical Function

The listener is better able to recognize the

grammar and syntactic structure of what is

being said by using the information contained

in the intonation.

It is usual to illustrate the grammatical

function by inventing sentences which when

written are ambiguous, and whose ambiguity

can only be removed by using differences of

intonation.

Example:

a. `Those who `sold -quickly˛made

a ˛profit.

(Meaning: A profit was made by

those who sold quickly)

b. `Those who -sold˛quickly made a

˛profit.

(Meaning: A profit was quickly

made by those who sold).

The difference caused by the placement

of the tone unit boundary is seen to be

equivalent to giving two different paraphrases

of the sentences.

4. Discourse Function

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Looking at the act of speaking in a

broader way, we can see that intonation can

signal to the listener what is to be taken as

“new” information and what is already

“given”, can suggest when the speaker is

indicating some sort of contrast or link with

material in another tone- unit and, in

conversation, can convey to the listener what

kind of response is expected.

Example:

A: Have you got any free time this

morning?

B: I might have later on if that

meeting’s off.

A: They were talking about putting it

later.

B: You can’t be sure.

Each sentence could be studied in

isolation and be analyzed in terms of

grammatical construction, lexical content and

so on. But it is obvious that the sentence form

part of some larger act of conversational

interaction between two speakers; the

sentences contain several references that

presuppose shared knowledge (e.g. “that

meeting” implies that both speakers know

which meeting is being spoken about), and in

some cases the meaning of a sentence can only

be correctly interpreted in the light of

knowledge of what has preceded it in the

conversation (e.g. “You can’t be sure”).

If we consider how intonation may be

studied in relation to discourse, we can

identify two main areas: one of them is the use

of intonation to focus the listener’s attention

on aspects of the message that are more

important, and the other is concerned with the

regulation of conversational behavior.

3. DATA ANALYSIS

This chapter deals with the analysis and

interpretation of the data. The data is analyzed

in terminal contour based on British

Intonation. The data is the students’ intonation

in reading dialogue of “giving information

about robbery”. There are 4 data that are

considered to represent all the data taken from

the field. Data analysis attempts to find out

the students’ difficulties in using English

intonation at SMP N 2

JawaMarajaKabupatenSimalungun.

The setting of the recorded voice is at

their classroom. In analyzing the dialogue, the

researcher gives initial A for speaker A, B for

speaker B. The recorded voices in data 1 are

read by YuliAndriani (speaker A) and

PutriMaysapuri (speaker B). The recorded

voices in data 2 are read by Ade Irma Nasution

(speaker A) and WidyaAndriatiPasaribu

(speaker B). The recorded voices in data 3 are

read by ThoatAmrullah (speaker A) and

DidiSyahputra (speaker B). The recorded

voices in data 4 are read by

ZefriAriantoSitumorang (speaker A) and

Imam Ramadhan (speaker B).

The Terminal Contour of the Data

Data 1

A : Are you the officer that is on duty

today?

B : Yes, Please sit down. What can I do

for you?

A : I want to report a robbery.

B : Where did it happen?

A : At my house.

B : At what time?

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A : Last night.

B : Were you at home?

A : No, My wife and I went away for the

weekend. We just came back.

B : Were there no servants in the house?

A : My maid was supposed to be there the

whole time.

She claims she heard nothing.

B : What is missing?

A : Some of my wife’s jewelry. My wife

keeps it locked in a drawer.

B : Was the drawer forced to be opened?

A : Yes, it was.

B : Was anything else removed from the

drawer?

A : No, there was nothing else of value.

B : I’d send someone round to check the

house for the finger prints and I’d also

like to talk to your maid.

A : Thank you sir. I’ll send my maid

immediately to you.

Data 2

A : Are you the officer that is on duty

today?

B : Yes, Please sit down. What can I do

for you?

A : I want to report a robbery.

B : Where did it happen?

A : At my house.

B : At what time?

A : Last night.

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B : Were you at home?

A : No, My wife and I went away for

the weekend. We just came back.

B : Were there no servants in the

house?

A : My maid was supposed to be there

the whole time.

She claims she heard nothing.

B : What is missing?

A : Some of my wife’s jewelry. My

wife keeps it locked in a drawer.

B : Was the drawer forced to be

opened?

A : Yes, it was.

B : Was anything else removed from

the drawer?

A : No, there was nothing else of value.

B : I’d send someone round to check

the house for the finger prints and I’d

also like to talk to your maid.

A : Thank you sir. I’ll send my maid

immediately to you.

Analysis of Data

1. Are you the officer that is on duty

today?

This sentence is a yes-no question. It

requires a rising intonation at the end

of the sentence. The data shows that

there are some incorrect forms of the

terminal contour spoken by the

students. Such as:

a. Are you the officer that is on duty

today? (incorrect)

b. Are you the officer that is on duty

today? (incorrect)

c. Are you the officer that is on duty

today? (incorrect)

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(a, b, & c) show that the students

fail to determine which word that

is stressed and unstressed. The

correct one is:

Are you the officer that is on duty

today? (correct)

2. Yes, please sit down. What can I do

for you?

There are 2 kinds of sentence that can

be found in this part of dialogue. First

is positive statement which its

function to allow. The other is w-h

question. Both require falling

intonation at the end of the sentence.

But the word “yes” should be in level

intonation; since its function to clarify

the question before. The data shows

that there are some incorrect forms of

the terminal contour spoken by the

students. Such as:

a. Yes, please sit down. What can I

do for you? (incorrect)

b. Yes, please sit down. What can I


c. Yes, please sit down. What can I


d. Yes, please sit down. What can I


(a & c) show that the incorrect terminal

contour occurs only in the w-h question. Both

are correct in the first sentence. The word

“yes” is in level intonation, and “please sit

down” is in falling intonation. The problem

exists in the next sentence. (a & c) fail to

determine the falling intonation on a w-h

question. Moreover (c) fails to determine the

stressed and unstressed word. While (b & d)

show that incorrect terminal contour occurs in

both sentences. The correct one is

Yes, please sit down. What can I

do for you? (correct)

3. Where did it happen?

This sentence is a w-h question

which requires a falling intonation at

the end of the sentence. The data

shows that there are some incorrect

forms of terminal contour, such as:

a. Where did it happen?

(incorrect)

b. Where did it happen?

(incorrect)

c. Where did it happen?

(incorrect)

(a) fails to determine that w-h

question should be in falling

intonation. (b) fails to determine the

stressed and unstressed word. The

terminal contour in (c) is quite

strange. It is because there is a

juncture in a sentence that should not

be. The correct one is:

Where did it happen?

(correct)

4. At what time?

This is a w-h question; another form

of when for asking time. It requires

falling intonation. The data shows that

there are some incorrect forms of

terminal contour, such as:

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a. At what time?

(incorrect)

b. At what time?

(incorrect)

(a & b) are incorrect because both use

rising intonation at the end of the

sentence. Moreover (b) fails to

determine the stress and unstressed

word. The correct intonation is:

At what time?

(correct)

5. Were you at home?

This sentence is a kind of yes-no

question. It requires rising intonation

at the end of the sentence. The data

shows that there are some incorrect

forms of terminal contour, such as:

a. Were you at home?

(incorrect)

b. Were you at home?

(incorrect)

Research Finding

After analyzing the data, the researcher

discovers the students’ difficulties in using

English intonation at SMP N 2 Jawa Maraja

Kabupaten Simalungun. The findings of this

research are:

Difficulty in using correct juncture.

a. This occurs frequently while the

students speaking or reading. Usually

its factors are shyness and doubt. If it

is not being overcome quickly, this

difficulty can cause the listener get

confused since its voice faltered.

b. Difficulty in using rising intonation

for the first clause and falling

intonation for the second clause in a

compound sentence.

c. This difficulty often occurs when the

students are faced with combined

intonation that exists in compound

sentence. The rule is the first clause

is in rising intonation and the second

one is in falling intonation. The

students do both clauses are in falling

intonation and sometimes there is no

juncture between those clauses.

d. Difficulty in using falling intonation

for w-h question and rising intonation

for yes-no question.

e. The students use very often rising

intonation in asking something by w-

h question and falling intonation in

asking question which requires

answer of yes or no. They do not

know in what type question rising or

falling intonation should be used.

f. Difficulty in determining pitch and

stress of a syllable.

g. This is the very crucial difficulty of

mastering correct intonation. The

students have minimum knowledge

about what words that have stress and

high/low pitch. The effectiveness of

an intonation depends very much on

the pitch and stress.

Interpretation of Research Finding

Learning intonation for foreign learners

is equally important with learning structure,

speaking, and writing. But unfortunately,

there are many students do not understand

how to apply intonation either in speaking or

reading. It is because they are not taught well

about intonation. In short, intonation has been

ignored in a learning English for foreign

learners.

Many of the intonation faults described

are both related to each other and to

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difficulties with stress. For this reason faults

need to be looked at in relation to stress,

intonation, and the students’ nationality.

Speech in all language has different stress and

intonation. To avoid the interference from the

student’s mother tongue, selected voice

disciplines, and certain stress and intonation

patterns must be firmly established in the

student’s mind.

The disciplines can be: control over voice

range, and distinction between rising, falling

and level tones. The patterns are: one which

descends regularly from a high to a lower

voice pitch, and one which brings out one or

two strongly emphasized words.

4. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

Conclusions

This research attempts to discover the

students’ difficulties in using English

intonation at SMP N 2

JawaMarajaKabupatenSimalungun. By

analyzing the students’ terminal contour, the

researcher finds out the difficulties, namely:

a. Difficulty in using correct juncture.

b. Difficulty in using rising intonation for

the first clause and falling intonation for

the second clause in a compound

sentence.

c. Difficulty in using falling intonation for

w-h question and rising intonation for

yes-no question.

d. Difficulty in determining pitch and stress

of a syllable.

Suggestions

Based on the conclusion above, the writer

suggests the following to be considered:

a. The lecturer should teach the students

about pronunciation and word stress, and

must be able to repeat and the students

can learn.

b. The lecturer should teach the students the

theory of rising and falling intonation and

demonstrate to the students the pattern

deliberately more audible

c. Students should repeat the teacher’s

intonation pattern in close imitation.

They must understand when rising,

falling and level intonation is used.

Besides that, students must be able to

detect where the changing pitch of voice

is placed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] Linse, Caroline, T. 2005. Practical

Language Teaching : Young Learner, Mc

Graw-Hill.

[2] Patel, M, F, 2008. English Language

Teaching, Sunrise Publisher.

[3] McCarthy, Peter A.D.1991. English

Pronunciaton, Cambridge: W. Heffer&

Sons Ltd.

[4] Cresswell,W.John. 2005. Educational

Reseach Planning, Conductin , and

Evaluating Quantitative an Qualitative.

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